


i know what i have to do, and i know that it's right

by JumpToConclusions



Series: dusted [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: --But it favors the ironfam, Angst and fluff and everything in between, Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, Changing Perspectives, It's like Endgame but really different, M/M, Made up Magic, Not NOT Team Cap Friendly, One of the other universes, Tags Subject to Change, This is a replacement for Endgame, Time Travel, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, even more perspectives to be added, im bad at tagging, the infinity stones
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-01
Updated: 2020-04-12
Packaged: 2021-02-24 18:54:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 17,639
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22062763
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JumpToConclusions/pseuds/JumpToConclusions
Summary: Tony can feel the body he’s been leaning against getting hollow, falling apart. Peter’s jaw sets as the cracking splinters journey up his neck and overtake the line of his chin -and all too fast he’s gone, his eyes leaving Tony’s as he floats off into the wind on a breeze Tony doesn’t feel.Tony’s hand slams through what once was the spider emblem he designed, Peter’s chest, and smacks against rock; sliding on dust that didn’t escape with the wind and sticking to his hand, tacky with his own dried blood.He stares at it, cradles it with his other fingers to his jaw, feels the heat of a setting sun, and wonders if this is how all the parents of kids he failed to save over the years felt.And in that moment, he decides he’s never really been a hero.OrTony watches the kid die, and then finds out he's not so dead. Peter and the other dusted are alive... just moved over a dimension.They need a plan to get them back.
Relationships: Bruce Banner/Thor, James "Bucky" Barnes/Sam Wilson, Peter Parker & Tony Stark, Tony Stark/Stephen Strange, past Pepper Potts/Tony Stark - Relationship
Series: dusted [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1587976
Comments: 6
Kudos: 94





	1. 1: you're alright

TONY

Every pour on Peter’s face is defined. Like looking at someone in high definition.

Each line; around his mouth, above his eyebrows, beside his eyes; every place he would one day have wrinkles -because he _will_. Damn him, Peter Parker will live long enough to have wrinkles- shone like a very good quality picture. 

Peter says something, something that sounds like a sorry, and Tony wants to tell him that there’s _nothing_ he should ever be sorry for again, but it’s too late.

Tony can feel the body he’s been leaning against getting hollow, falling apart. Peter’s jaw sets as the cracking splinters journey up his neck and overtake the line of his chin -and all too fast he’s gone, his eyes leaving Tony’s as he floats off into the wind on a breeze Tony doesn’t feel.

Tony’s hand slams through what once was the spider emblem he designed, Peter’s chest, and smacks against rock; sliding on dust that didn’t escape with the wind and sticking to his hand, tacky with his own dried blood.

He stares at it, cradles it with his other fingers to his jaw, feels the heat of a setting sun, and wonders if this is how all the parents of kids he failed to save over the years felt.  
And in that moment, he decides he’s never really been a hero.

-

Tony gets up after a while, once the ache low in his abdomen becomes unbearable and Friday has chirped in his nano-housing compartment one too many times to ignore.  
He stares at the place Peter was for another minute, still holding his hand, and then tries to wipe the rest of the clinging dust off as something stings low in his throat and high in his nose. He rubs at his palm with his thumb and scrubs with an edge of his sweatshirt. The Blue Woman, the only other one left, watches him from where she’s sat, forearms balanced on her flared out knees. 

“He did it.” She says, something haunted lines her tone, something that makes him want to shiver. She doesn’t say anything after that.  
Tony let's his now rubbed-red hand fall from his grip.

 _When you can do the things that I can, and you don’t, and then the bad things happen… they happen because of you._  
Tony should have- they almost had it off. They almost had it- Peter’s- 

“Why did you tell him.” Tony doesn’t ask, and he doesn’t look at her, just stares at the expense of rock he watched Peter turn to dust against. “You couldn’t have waited?”

“I thought he would be smart enough to wait.” Her eyes are vacant, her voice something monotone. 

“You- he blew it, for all of us. Not just himself, but _everyone, everywhere._ You couldn’t have waited?” His voice is raising, something prickles at the corners of his eyes, his abdomen screams with every shift of his weight. “Five minutes. We needed five minutes-”

“I’m sorry.” She says finally making eye contact with him, “I made a mistake.”

Tony feels a pang in his ribs, something in her look reminding him of scolding The Kid, who just turned to dust in his arms, on a rooftop. 

“Just get in the ship.” He says. “We need to regroup on Earth.” He sets his jaw, and firmly tears his eyes away from the small pile of dust laying in the dip of a rock, wiping his hands as he walks towards the dead groups ship.

-

PETER

Something tastes off. The air, maybe. His own saliva, maybe. 

There’s a hand on his shoulder, his head is pillowed on someone’s thigh.

For a second he expects Tony to lean over him, hold his face, cradle his head, tell him ‘everything’s fine. You’re alright.’

He can hear the words echoing around his skull, filling the space behind his eyes with a thick hot tar that pushes out his waterline in the form of burning tears. 

His suit helmet is down, everything is bright, and everything has an orange tint.

“They’re moving.” Someone- The Wizard, that’s The Wizard’s voice. _Strange._ His name was Strange- says. 

“The Spider is awake.” The woman he’s laid up against mutters, her voice is like bells, ringing above him. 

The Wizard hums. “Peter, right?”

Peter nods, trying to sit up, surprised when nothing hurts. “What happened?” He tries to shake the gross taste from his mouth and the cotton feeling in his brain away. It doesn’t work.

“We’ve been moved over a plane of existence.” Strange says simply, like that explains anything. He sighs at Peter’s blank stare and scrunched forehead. “More like a reality,” he mends,  
“imagine there are two sheets of paper, one above the other. We have been shifted over a sheet, creating a type of…” He visibly searches for an adequate word, “bubble, yes, that works, a bubble between our worlds. Thanos has created the illusion that we are gone, but he’s merely hidden us from the senses.” 

“So, we’re not dead?” Peter asks, cautiously. He looks over his shoulder to find Mr. Stark walking past The Blue Woman. 

“To them? Yes. To each other? No.” Strange answers cripticly. “Stark is planning on getting back to Earth using The Guardian's ship. We should follow.”

“What about your yellow sparkly thing?” Peter asks, doing the motion with his own hands, “can’t we get home that way?” 

Strange looks at him quizzically, then down at his hands, like he forgot about something. 

Strange raises his hand to eye level, holds it flat, and watches it for a moment. He clenches it into a fist and back to lie flat. “Magic still works here. It didn’t in the realities I foresaw.”

Peter’s eyebrows press together. “So the yellow sparkly thing?”

“Will in theory work.” Strange finishes. “Perhaps he was careless.”

Peter shrugs, “I say we try it.” 

Strange holds out two fingers, then circles his hand around it. 

Yellow and orange sparks follow in the wake of his second hand, opening to a New York Street Peter recognizes from patrol. 

“That’s really cool.” Peter blinks, squinting against the bright of the portal against the almost gone sunlight. “So we can all get home?”

He hears rocks shift from behind him, so he looks over his shoulder again. The Blue Woman is standing now. Eyes laser focused on the crackling gold in front of Peter. 

“Human.” She says, not turning to address Mr. Stark. He doesn’t turn, so she says louder. “ _Human_. Look.”

Mr. Stark turns, and his eyes widen.

-

TONY

The Wizard isn’t dead. 

_Peter. Peter. Peter._

“Strange?” Tony asks, he’s walking fast towards the glowing circle. It disperses after a moment. Tony’s stomach aches. “Strange?” 

There’s another portal, this one bigger, showing off the Cauldron of The Cosmos Tony had been leaning against, a time that felt like a hundred years ago. 

“Come on.” He says to The Blue Woman, “we should go.” 

She follows without complaint. 

The entry room makes his foot steps echo, moments later the portal fades out. Tony is standing with The Blue Woman -he should _really_ learn her name- in the high sun of the early afternoon shining in though the broken window. 

“Ok, I’m gonna ask a really stupid question.” He says to the air around himself. “But what the fuck is happening?"

There are sirens in the street, people are yelling for each other, horns are honking, he thinks he hears an alarm going off somewhere distant. 

“He did it.” The Blue Woman says again. “One half of the universe, dead.”

There’s a slam somewhere to the right, Tony glaces over just in time to see the red hot band disappear into the air.

“I don’t think so.” Tony says, still staring at the air where the whip faded. “Strange, that you?”

Another slam.

“Ok. Alright. Let's try this;” Tony tries not to let the hope pooling in his abdomen show in his voice. “One hit yes, two hits no.” 

The band flizzles to light and wacks into the tile. 

“Are you alone?” _Peter. Peter. Peter._

The band -whip? Is it a whip?- slams twice. 

“Is everyone who disappeared with you?”

One slam. 

“Peter.” Tony whispers. “Is Peter with you?” 

Another slam. 

Tony lets out a little noise. “Shit. You have a phone in here?”

-

PETER

Strange slams his whip twice, then calls up another portal. 

“What are you doing?” Peter asks. 

“Cutting out the middle man.” Strange answers, “he doesn’t need a phone, he needs Rogers.”

“Is that what you saw?” Peter watches Tony step through the portal, followed by the woman he can see. “In the other universes? Is that what you saw?” He watches The Guardian's climb though the sparkling circle.

“Yes and no.” Strange answers. “It’s complicated.” 

“Then… uh… explain it?” 

Strange casts him A Look, rolls his eyes and blows a hanging piece of hair from his forehead. “I saw him team up with Rogers, and the others, but years from now. In every instance it was years from now and we were either _here_ or _nowhere._ ” 

“So this is different.” Peter brushes his own overgrown hair from his eyes. “This isn’t what you saw.”

“No.” Strange says.

“So does that mean we’ll lose?” 

Strange looks over at him, from the corner of his eyes. They follow The Grey Man -Dray? Drax?- through the portal. “I’m none too sure.”

Peter doesn’t know what to say to that, just follows Strange into the stainless steel of the room the portal opens out into.

The room is empty aside from what Peter’s calling The Space Club, Tony at the helm, still clutching his abdomen, where he was _stabbed._

The sun is low in the sky here, telling Peter they’re somewhere near Europe, maybe Africa. 

“Where the fuck are we, Strange.” Mr. Stark mutters.

“One second, Stark.” Strange says, despite the fact that he can’t be heard. 

There’s an alarm over head, Mr. Stark flinches, and Strange grins.

-

TONY

Pardon his french, but _what the fuck._

His knowledge of timezones tells him they’re somewhere far from New York, and his knowledge of alarms is telling him that they are _certainly_ not welcome here. The Blue Woman is suddenly on guard, leaned over and holding two long swords in hand. Tony has no weapons, so he side-steps behind her. 

There’s rattling, maybe of armor, and then the door slides open; and before them stands the Princess of Wakanda, accompanied by several very shaken guards. 

“Oh. It’s Iron Man.” She looks confused, and a little underwhelmed. “Little late.”

“I was fighting Thanos on another planet, so I think I get a tardy slip, at most.” He snarks, but his brows are pressed together. “Maybe a slap on the wrist- hey. Here’s a thought. What the _hell_ happened, down here?” 

The Blue Woman seems satisfied that this isn’t a threat, and drops her arms; standing straight.

Princess Shuri’s arms, clad in some large cannon-panter shaped things from her elbows down, drop to her sides, her head angles off. “We lost.” 

“Hell yeah we did.” Tony mutters. “I got stabbed, by the way. You have a medic to spare? I’ll trade valuable information for drugs.” 

She gestures with her arm. “This way.” 

Her makeup (is it makeup? Face paint? It’s pretty.) is smudged under the eyes. She falls into step beside him, her guards stand in front of them. “What happened on your end?” She asks. Her eyes trained on him, probably desperate for information. Probably looking for the quickest way to fix this.

“We had Thanos. Almost got the gauntlet off.” He shrugs, “he killed- uh a guy who was with us, Thanos killed his girlfriend. So he freaked out and tried to beat him up. I don’t know, I probably would have reacted the same way, to be honest. Thanos woke up outta the trance we had him in, and the rest…” He closes his eyes, cracks his knuckles, opens his eyes because _he’s walking,_ and says, “Strange, The Wizard --Sorcerer --whatever, he traded the Time Stone to Thaons.” 

Shuri’s eyebrows press, she squints at him. “What could be worth an Infinity Stone?”

Tony looks down, watching the tiles pass below his feet. “Me, apparently.” 

Her gaze hardens, then softens when he meets it. She nods, once. Understanding shone in her eyes.

“They’re alive.” He says, “I know it’s insane, after what we saw, but Thanos was wrong. They’re alive- they can tell you themselves… I just- I just need a doctor.” He sumbles, his ears ring. “Shit.” 

Shuri grabs him under the arm. 

“Friday, status?” He asks his chest. 

“Nanobots-seething was not designed to last so long, Boss. You are now losing blood.” Her voice sounds worried. Distant, maybe. 

“I should… I should update that.”

“Yes, Boss.” Friday says, worry laced in her tone. 

Tony snorts, turning to The Princess. “Let's walk faster, yeah?”

Shuri nods.

-

PETER

Mr. Stark is half unconscious when they lay him on a cot. Strange stands, worried, beside him. 

“Is that Groot?” The man who hit Thanos with his gun -Star... something- asks. “Holy shit, it is- Rocket!”

“I am Groot!” 

_… Is that a tree? And a racoon?_

Holy shit. That is a racoon, talking to Thor. _Mayhaps_ Peter needs a nap. 

He turns his attention back to Mr. Stark, now being fitted with an oxygen mask. Someone is pulling at his shirt, another person cutting it open. The girl with panther-gauntlets instructs Friday to remove the nano-bots. They crawl back, covered in blood, and collect themselves in a neat pile on the bed beside Mr. Stark. 

“He needs stitches.” Strange says under his breath, “it may have nicked something major. They need to check.”

“Dr. Strange-” Peter starts.

“Why aren’t they checking.” Strange asks, “I gave up my duty to save this… arrogant, dickhead of a man, and they can’t even check him for significant--”

“Dr. Strange!” Peter interrupts, “Maybe we should step outside...” 

Stange steps back, ignoring Peter, and slams his whip once into the floor. 

The few that noticed focus in. 

He slams it again. 

Peter grabs his hand and holds it in the air before Stange can slam it again. 

“Let them focus.” 

“They need to focus harder, damn it.” Strange glowers, ripping his wrist from Peter’s grasp. Peter lets it go as a kindness. 

“I heard Stark was here.” Comes a voice, one Peter’s heard time and time again in detention. He turns to see Captain America.

“This Joke.” Strange mutters, waving Captain America off and continuing his tense-jawed glaring.

“What happened?” He asks, “is he ok?”

“Only family.” a man dressed in purple scrubs says, pushing Captain America’s chest. The tall, broad shouldered man looks offended, taken aback, but the nurse pushes him again, and he stumbles from the room. “Fucking super heros.”

Princess Shuri nods in agreement. Peter hangs beside her, watching as they wheel Mr. Stark away. 

“We need a way to talk to them.” He says to Strange, who stares in the direction they pushed Mr. Stark. “We need to tell them we’re here. You heard the noise in the city. People are going crazy.” 

Strange nods. “Once Stark is stitched up.”

Peter nods. 

-

TONY

“Tony?” It’s Rhodey’s voice. Next to him. Above him. “Tones?”

“Mmm’p.” Tony mumbles, cracking his eye open. “I’mm’p. I’m up.” He moans as he tries to sit up. “Ow.”

“Lay down.” Rhodey pushes his chest. Tony looks down at his body, he’s wearing a grey and red hospital gown.

“Peter. Strange. Where are they?” He blinks his eyes again, rubbing at his nose. “Peter!” 

There’s a fizzle, a band of orange and yellow sparks to life and slams into the ground. 

“He’s with you?” Tony asks, glancing over.

The rope slams once more. 

“Good.”

Rhodey has an deep line pressed above his nose bridge. “What the _fuck_?”

“They aren’t dead. None of them.” Tony explains, somewhat manic. “Right, Strange?”

Another slam.

“See?” 

“How does that…?”

“He’s a wizard. He does it in fights.” Tony explains, waving off Rhodey’s questioning. “Any idea on how we can talk, Strange?”

One more slam. 

“Really?”

Another slam, Rhodey’s stopped flinching, now. 

-

PETER

“Really?” Peter parrots. “How?”

“Astral projection, or, a form of it. You and I are going to astral project into his mindscape, we’ll be in his vision.” 

“You can do that?”

“It’ll be hard.” Strange says, ever cryptic. “But it can be done.” 

“How do we do it?” Peter asks. 

Strange slams his whip again, then creates a portal.

“Strange?” Mr. Stark asks, “you ok?”

“Why’d you do that?” 

“Reassure him that he’s not insane. Here, sit down.” Strange sits, the cloak lifts off of his shoulders and floats by Mr. Stark. “Take my hands-- yes, like that.”

Peter takes both of his hands clasped together like lego hands, not intertwined fingers. They’re both sat criss-cross-apple-sause. 

“Now concentrate on your breathing. Nothing else. In and out.”

Peter clears his throat, straightens his back, and clears his mind- or tries to. It’s hard with the spidey sense, alerting him at every shift. 

It’s basically just hyper-active anxiety. 

“Peter. Breathe. Think about your breathing.” Strange mutters, his voice a deep rumble. Peter squints his eye open to see Strange’s head bowed, strands of hair floating on a breeze Peter doesn’t feel. “In and out. For Stark.”

And Peter’s mind is blank.

When he opens his eyes Strange is still holding his hands, they’re floated above their bodies. Strange lets his feet fall back down below him.

Peter squeals, clutching Strange's hands tighter.

“You’re alright. Keep in contact with me, I’m keeping you here.” Strange instructs. 

“Holy shit.” Tony says, and Peter and him lock eyes. 

-

TONY

“Mr. Stark!” The Kid’s eyes are wide, a smile grows on his face, a stark contrast to how Tony last saw him. And The Kid is _floating._

“Peter… How…?”

“Tone?” Rhodey asks, “You ok, Man?”

“You’re not gonna fucking beleive me, Honeybear, but I swear to god there’s a Wizard and a Dead Kid floating a few feet that way.” He glances over to Rhodey, who startles, falling back.

“Holy shit!” Rhodey exclaims, then leans forward and grabs Tony’s face. “Tony, one of your eyes is orange- like _orange_. Like the whole thing. What the _fuck_.”

“That’s us.” Strange explains. “I apologize. Being connected like this may take a toll on your physical body, but there’s no way around it.”

“It’s them.” Tony explains to Rhodey. “So I can see them, I guess. Peter? Kid.” Tony tears his face out of Rhodey’s grip. “You alright?”

“I’m good.” Peter says, “really, sorry I got a little dusty-”

“Never apologize to me again.” Tony snaps, “you hear me? Oh shit- May. I need to call May.”

“Please.” Peter nods. 

“I’m getting half of this.” Rhodey’s brows are raised, he leans back in his chair with a mask of calm. “Literally half.”

“You’re like that kid from that really old movie.” Peter says, he spins a little in the air, still criss crossed, his legs floating upward. “You know the one--” Peter throws on a haunted expression and whispers, “ _I see dead people_.”

“What did I say about pop culture references, Young Man?” Tony glares, but he can’t keep the smile from his face; who knew it could feel so good to scold people. Especially dead people.

“You’re serious, right now.” Rhodey asks, an eyebrow raised, “you can hear them, see them?”

“Not all of them. Just The Wizard and Peter, right?” He turns back to his slightly transparent -and a little floaty- orange tinted ghosts. 

“We’re doing a form of astral projection. So yes, only us. But there are others. Hundreds on this floor alone.” Strange explains, jaw set and raised. “More outside. I’ve sent The Guardian's out to calm as many as they can.” He looks over to Peter, breaking his composed manner with an eye roll and a sigh, tugging The Kids arm. “Get down from there.”

“He doesn’t listen to anyone.” Tony rolls his… eye… and crosses his arms over his chest. “He’s the most disobedient little createn- hey!--”

Peter’s feet touch down beside Strange- and The Little Shit grins. 

“Do you have like, cookies or something? He doesn’t listen to me. Ever.”

“I’m not a dog, Mr. Stark.”

“You’re a poorly trained shih-tzu that likes to piss on my Louboutin’s; that’s what you are.”

“Does that count as a pop culture reference? Because I think you broke The Rule.”

“Oh my god. Enough of your bicking.” Strange groans, eyes squinted shut and hand flying out in a ‘stop’ gesture. “I’ve had enough for a millenia. Call in The Princess.”

“Strange is asking for Princess Shuri.” Tony says, turning to Rhodey, “can you…?”

“Yeah. Alright. Your ghost buddy tells you to get The Princess, last remaining claim to the Wakandan Throne, so I’ll do that.”

“Thanks, Platypus.”

Rhodey looks… exacerbated, tired of Tony’s shit, taken aback. “Dude- no. Tones, think about this. How do you even know-”

“I don’t know.” Tony says, jaw clenched. “Rhodey, I don’t know, but fuck if I’m not gonna try- I thought he was dead, The Kid. I thought I lost The Kid. And now he’s…” Tony looks over to Peter, who is frozen in place, forehead wrinkled in concern. “He’s right there, Rhodey. So no, I don’t know. But I gotta believe.” His eyes are back on Rhodey. “Because if I don’t believe, then he’s dying in my arms again…” His voice trails off, jaw falling slack, edges softening, “and we lost. To the guy that’s been in my head for _six. Years._ I need to _try_.”

Rhodey sets his jaw, closes his eyes, uncrosses his arms to push off his thighs, and stands with the whirr of his braces. “If evil ghosts kill us all, I get to murder you.” He doesn’t wait for Tony’s retort before walking out of the room.

“He called you guys evil.” Tony says, pouting. “You’re not evil, right?”

“No, Stark.” Strange says, annoyed. But Tony can hear something else, something fond, on the edge of his tone. “Not evil.”

-

There are people in his room. Lots of them. More than he asked for, to be honest. He signed up for Rhodey and Princess Shuri- and there is Nat, Bruce, Thor, a _fucking racoon_ (he TALKS), and Rogers standing in a horseshoe around his bed. 

Peter informs him that The Guardians have brought and introduced him to a talking tree, so maybe the racoon isn’t the weirdest- no. no, the racoon is weird. Tony wins. Tony; 1, Pete; 0.

“They talk to you?” Princess Shuri asks, “you can see them?”

“I can only see two of them.” Tony explains, for maybe the third time. “Dr. Strange and Spidey. They’re being an intermedium between the two groups. Your brother is in here, by the way. Strange says that he says hi.”

Shuri nods, her eyes glassy. “Can they hear us?”

Peter nods, hand still held in Strange’s, and sits on Tony’s bed- well, above. “He can. We can hear and see, but we can’t interact.”

Tony voices that.

“So all he did was move them over?” Natasha asks, the first Avenger- Un-Avenger? Ex-Avenger?- to speak up. 

“That’s what Strange says.” Tony answers. “And he had control of an Infinity Stone for years, so I vote we believe him.”

“So, in theory, we could just move them back?” Bruce asks, “because that seems too simple.”

“That’s the problem.” Tony says, “it’s the stones, they’re with-“

“Thanos.” Nat finishes. Shaking her head. “And we lost against him already, now we have half of our army, one of our strongest players in the adjacent dimension, and the other one benched with a stab wound.”

“I’m honored. Touched, even.”

“Don’t let it go to your head.” She squints.

Princess Shuri speaks, cutting off Natasha’s glare. “Why did he give up the time stone for you? It seems like had he not, this could have all been avoided, and we could have taken down Thanos before he was able to manipulate time to his will.”

Strange swallows, heavy. Jaw eternally clenched.

“That’s what I was due to yell at you about, Strange! I thought there was something-”

“Stark-”

“No. No. You gave him that stone. That was our one advantage, and you gave it away-”

“If I hadn't he would have killed you.” Strange cuts in. “He would have killed you, and every chance we would have had would be lost. So forgive me for thinking long term, here.” 

“There had to have been another way-”

“There was no other way, Tony.” The voice cuts through the confused quiet around them like a hot knife. “You’re our advantage. He would have killed you.”

“Nahh. No.” Tony shakes his head. “Ya’see, Strange, that doesn’t compute, ok? That’s not how this works.” Tony’s gesturing with his words. “That’s not how this was meant to go. You don’t trade the most powerful fucking thing we have for _me_ , because I’m not worth a stone that _turns back time_.”

“You are how we kill him.” Strange argues, “in every universe we get close, it’s you.”

“I only drew a _drop of blood_.” Tony has a clenched jaw and wide, angry eyes. “Hours of fighting, my entire suit destroyed, and I gave him a razor nick. So no, Strange. That was not a fair trade. Me. For that stone? No.”

“Can’t you just accept that you’re the hero? I thought your ego would be _stoked_ -”

“My ego shattered when The Kid died in my arms--”

“I couldn’t watch you die. Not again. I’ve lived through hundreds-” Strange closes his eyes, mending his words, “millions of realities. One after the other. And in each you die. All but one- and this isn’t it. But it’s not one of the ones where we lost, either. So I’m willing to sculpt a new reality, with you holding the reins; because, Stark, as much as you can be a _pain in my ass_ , you are this reality’s only hope.” 

Tony shakes his head again. “That’s not how this works, Wizard.”

“Well, too bad.” Strange says, “Because this is how it’s working.”

Tony sighs, bringing his hands up to rub his face. 

“Did anyone get _any_ of that?” Bruce mutters, “because I didn’t get any of it.”

“Seems to me like Mr. Tin Can took a little too much or the good stuff, if you know what I mean.” 

“Maybe I did, because I’m hallucinating a walking, talking build-a-bear.”

“Why you-” The racoon pulls a knife from his boot, Thor lets out a booming laugh, scooping Rocket up and placing him on his shoulder. 

“No weaponry in the hospital, Rabbit.” 

“Yes weapons in the hospital, Dumbass.”

“I hate my life.” Bruce mutters, dropping his head to Thor’s bicep. The racoon pats him on the head. 

“Join the club, Buddy.”

“I’ve been in the club for too long.” Bruce groans.

“I like clubs, we should make a club.” Thor adds. “Banner, want to be in my club?”

Nat rubs at her eyes, Rogers looks like he might pop a blood vessel. 

“We’re going to step outside.” Bruce says, pushing Thor back, “so you guys can discuss serious things. I’ll keep the murderous racoon occupied.”

Thor bounds out the door with Bruce, less enthusiastic, at his heels. 

Tony’s the first to speak. “What happened to them, by the way. First time I’ve seen Thor in- what, six years? Bruce in five?”

“They’ve been in space, apparently.” Nat fills in cooly. “As have other people, such as yourself. What happened, up there, other than the dusting?”

“We fought Thanos. Almost got the gauntlet, off. But he moved. End of story.” 

“I heard a lot just now about a stone.” Rhodey prompts, “care to explain?”

Tony sighs, eyes closed and lips pressed to a thin line. “Strange traded the Time Stone so that I could live, and now he’s saying it’s the only way we win the next fight.” He opens his eyes to see Peter smiling at him sadly, one hand overlapping his. It leaves pins and needles in the thin skin over his knuckles.

“What do you mean?” Nat asks, “the only way we win the next fight?”

“He scanned some universes when he had the time zones. A couple thousand alternate futures—“

“Fourteen million, Douchebag.”

“Right, sorry, _fourteen million_ alternative futures, and he says that in every one we got close it was me.” He nods his head a little to the left, then rubs a hand through his hair to scratch the indent of his skull. “Which I can’t believe. Because surely a stone that controls _time_ would be more useful that a guy that just got stabbed.”

“You’re Iron Man, Mr. Stark.” Peter’s eyebrows are pressed firmly together, his face screwed up in an expression that radiates ‘no duh’, he’s seen it on his own face in pictures. 

“I might be Iron Man? But I’m just a human, Kid-“

“Hell yeah you’re just a human! You’re a genius. And a hero. And there’s no one else I would choose to save my ghostly ass.”

“Peter, language.” Tony glares.

“You say worse, Mr. Stark.”

“Ohhh I’m never introducing you to Rhodey. Or Pepper. And you know what? I was gonna let you geek out over Nat to me later but now I’m not so sure—"

“What? No, sorry. I’m a perfect angel who never swears. Tell her I think she’s fantastic.”

Tony turns to Natasha with a sigh. “Spidey thinks you’re amazing.” 

“Thank you, Spider-Man.” Natasha looks amused, if it’s fake he can’t tell. Her arms are crossed over her chest and her blonde hair is artfully tasseled. “You’re rather interesting, too.”

“Woah.” Peter giggles. “Nose bleed.”

Strange sighs. 

“Right, business-"

“I heard you were feeling better.” There’s The Blue Woman, standing beside his door. “I had to see for myself.”

“I am feeling better.” Tony nods, “they have the good drugs here.”

“I’m… glad.” She has her eternally stone face pressed still. 

“Don’t think I ever caught your name?” Tony asks.

“Nebula. I was A Child Of Thanos. I would like to further help your rebellion against him. Would that be ok?”

Tony doesn’t wait for a confirmation from Rogers to accept her request. “Sure. Peter would love to have you in the… What was it called, Kid?”

“The Space Club.”

“The Space Club. You would make a fine addition. Come on in.”

“Cool.” Peter murmurs, “she’s got _katanas_ , Mr. Stark.”

“Yes she does, Kid.” Tony nods, smiling, “yes she does.”

\---


	2. you'll have me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Captain America, her childhood hero, stands in front of her with his arms crossed. 
> 
> You wouldn’t recognize him from the propaganda and recruitment posters, his hair is too long, his beard too thick, and the lines of his face you can see are too weathered.  
> She says nothing, clenching her jaw and raising an eyebrow and chin, widening her stance and letting waves of energy dance around one of her fists. 
> 
> His mouth twists up in what she reads as approval, and she lets her light fade and stance relax.

MAY

Ok. So this is happening. 

She’s packing all of her things into Ben’s old suitcase, because apparently it’s the end of the world. 

Happy called her, about an hour ago, and she was so glad to see his name. 

_“Peter’s ok?” She had asked, pausing the frantic news channel and putting him on speaker phone so she could check her text conversations with Stark, purely blue bubbles, no grey. Not even dots._

_ **Tony Stark  
Stark? ** _

_ **Are you ok?** _

_ **The news says you got on that ship.  
Pepper’s not picking up.** _

_ **Where is Peter?** _

_ **Peter’s not at the school.  
Ned said he went to help you.** _

_ **Stark?  
Tony?** _

_ **Where is Peter?  
Tony if hes in space i will kill u** _

_ **Please answer. Come on.** _

_ **Karen says he’s not on earth.  
You said he wouldn’t get hurt. Keep your promise. ** _

_ **Tony? Are you ok?  
Happy’s picking me up. Tell Peter I’m ok. ** _

_“He said he’ll explain-- but he’s, in Tony’s words, ‘pretty ok’.”_

_“That does not calm me down.” May mumbled. “I saw another angle of that ring-ship-thing, Peter was on it, Happy.”_

_“I know. I’m coming to pick you up now. We’re taking the jet to Wakanda. Pack a bag.” And the call dropped._

She shoves another pair of sweats in the bag, her pepper spray and pocket knife find their way into her pockets, and with a second of hesitation she runs to Peter’s room. 

She goes into his closet, pushes his clothes out of the way and opens the grey case stuffed in the back. 

Web shooters. 

She clamps them to her wrist, Karen comes online with a chirp. 

“Ms. Parker, welcome to Protocall Aunt Webs.”

“Hi, Karen.” May says to her wrists. 

“Peter and Mr. Stark have included special abilities for Protocall Aunt Webs. Would you like to go over them?”

May swallows heavy, licks her bottom lip into her mouth, holds a wrist to eye height, and says; “yes.”

The web shooters light up, neon blue outlining the geometric curves of the metal. Nano-bots crawl down her arm and up her wrist, creating gauntlets. 

“Good.” Karen responds, something proud in the AI’s tone. 

-

Happy shows up after May’s already broken all of her wine glasses and made her hair stand on end with an electric disk Karen calls a Widow Bite. 

Happy pauses, eyebrows together, scanning the broken glasses, lined up on the island. “Ms. Parker?” He turns, “--holy shit!” He has his hands held up, then. Eyes wide.

May has a gauntlet raised to his face, repulser wining. 

“I know why Peter likes the suit, now.” She mumbles, lowering her hand. “Karen, you can…. Uh… retreat.”

“Yes, Ms. Parker.” Karn chirps, the bots crawl back into the original shape of the web shooters. 

“That’s… That’s a thing.” Happy stutters. “Ho-kay. You… uh, you ready to go?” 

“Yup.” She grabs her bag.

“I can get that for you.” He says as she passes.

“Nope. I’ve got it.”

-

CAROL

Carol lands heavy. 

_New York._

It’s dark, she’s the brightest thing beside the street lights. 

It only takes her a moment to find it; the pager stares up at her from a car wreak, beside the wheel of a black SUV. Dust lines the street. She looks around. The roads are mostly empty. A few cars attempt to roll down the street. She hears someone calling a name. 

Another car, an expensive one with blinding headlights, tries to weave around a pile up. 

Carol steps forward to push away a van blocking the road.

“Stop the car.” She hears from the inside, “Happy- she’s _glowing_ , Happy. Stop the car.” 

It stops, the man at the wheel looks annoyed, surprised, and bemused; all at once. 

A woman with metal covering her arms steps out from the car, not shutting her door as she steps around a bumper dropped in the road. She comes to a stop in front of their car’s head lights. 

The man follows a moment later with a worried look, he shuts his door and galres at her, huffing out a breath.

“I’m Carol Danvers.” Carol says, one brow raised. “Who are you?” Her eyes are focused on the woman’s arms (the metal encasing them is blue with red detailing, Carol notices now that she has a closer look).

“I’m May. Do you know The Avengers?”

“I’m... The Avenger.” Carol raises an eyebrow. “That was my bird’s name, in the Air Force.” She rolls her shoulders, frowning while she purses her lips and nods her head side to side. “But I know of _The Avengers_. I’ve heard of them. Do you know Nick Furry?”

“Stark has mentioned him.” May says. “I’m sure if he’s still… if he wasn’t… he’ll be with them, if he’s still...”

Carol nods. “Alright. Take me there, where ever they are.” 

May nods, walking back to the car. Carol follows, sliding in the back seat. 

Happy takes a breath, his hands hit his thighs. “Alright, then.” And he gets in the front seat. 

-

PETER

“Do we have a plan, yet?” Peter asks, “other than ‘we need a plan’?”

Strange sighs. “Peter, be quiet or I’ll send you back to your body.”

“Rude.” Peter mutters. Strange rolls his eyes, but readjusts his grip on Peter’s hand before going back to him meditative state.

Tony’s been asleep for an hour, Nebula hangs close to him. Watching a tv show with a confused look; Peter looks on screen to see Kim Kardashian waving her hand.

“We can’t make a plan until Stark wakes up.” Strange says, cracking an eye open. “So unless you have another idea-”

“The stones have to give off some radiation, right?” Peter says, before Strange can shut his eye again. “Traceable radiation.”

Strange looks apprehensive, head angled to the left and chin raised. “Traceable?”

“Could Mr. Stark make a way to track the stones?”

Strange nods, twice. “He could.”

“So we can find them?”

“If Thanos uses them again.”

“He will.” Peter says, chin locked. “He has to.”

Strange nods, slowly. “We’ll tell Stark when he wakes.” 

Peter nods, “you can… meditate, now. I’ll just…”

Strange shakes his head, sighing. “Talk, Mini-Stark.”

“I just…” Peter sighs and shrugs, adverting his eyes. “He said May was coming... but she’d gonna freak. And I know it’s stupid, but I’m worried she’ll… take away Spider-Man.”

Strange shuts his eyes and nods, “that’s not a stupid fear.”

Peter sighs again, “I just-- I just love being Spider-Man. And now that... that I’ve… dusted, May and Mr. Stark are gonna be super protective.” 

Strange scans his face. Silent. 

“I just wanna help people.” Peter shrugs. 

“You have to care about yourself, too.” Strange says, cold. “I’ve met you a million times, Spider, and not once have you done what _you_ want.” 

Peter rolls his shoulders, then licks his lip into his mouth, “in the universe where we won, what did we do?”

“Honestly,” Strange’s lip lifts, and though it’s a smile, it’s self-deprecating. “I have no idea what they did, we won in a universe where we were reduced to ash, and nothing more.”

Peter leans his head to catch Strange’s eyes, “but we won?”

Strange nods. “We won.” His eyes are stuck on Tony, now; with an expression Peter can’t decipher, but it sends a chill up his spine anyway.

Peter nods, eyes wide with worry as Strange clenches a shaking fist. “Yeah. We won. Ok.”

-

TONY

When he wakes up Strange and Peter are gone. 

Panic sparks low in his gut and _zings_ up his spine.

“You’re up.” He hears from the side. _Rogers._

“How long was I out?” Tony asks in place of a hello. Smacking his lips and rolling his tongue against his teeth in hope of scraping the gross feel of sleep from his taste buds. 

“Six hours. Rhodes says that a woman called May is waiting for you. Princess Shuri’s left her and her guest in the King’s Chambers.” Rogers’ jaw is clenched, one eyebrow raised from where he leans against the doorway; arms crossed high over the bump of his chest. 

“I don’t think I’ve slept six hours since ‘94.” Tony mutters, referring to an event Rhodey calls The Tequila Binge Of 1990, then turning his head away from Rogers to scan the room. “Peter? Strange?”

Strange floats into view, instantly relaxing Tony’s nerves until he feels the jolt of electric orange goes up his right side and spins around his eyes; landing him with a migraine. 

“I’m taking a break from projecting, once Ms. Parker arrives I will project Peter and I.” Strange explains, waiting for a confirming nod from Tony before fading from view again. 

Tony takes in a deep breath, falling back on his pillows and hissing at the pull in his abdomen. “What do you want, Rogers?”

“I just wanted to check on you.” He hums, uncrossing his arms and standing upright. “I can go get Rhodes.”

“Just a second.” Tony holds out a hand. 

Rogers listens. One foot out the door. “Yes?”

“What happened. Here. How did we lose?” Tony asks, jaw tight, “...I just can’t get how both of us lost.”

Rogers blinks his long lashes, runs a hand through his beard and up into his long, slicked back hair, and shakes his head. “Maybe if we were together it would have been different. But we weren’t.”

“Now we are.”

Rogers smiles, something somber; sad, maybe. “I’m sorry for what I did. You were right, Tony- About everything.” He pauses for a second, as if weighting his next words. “...Accords included.” 

Tony laughs, bitter and deep in his throat. “Little late, Cap.”

Rogers’ nods, skirting his eyes away. “I know.”

“I can’t forgive you-”

“I know.” A side of Rogers’ mouth has lifted. 

“-Yet.” Tony finishes. 

Rogers’ head angles up, “Tony--”

“If we had handled what happened differently, I wouldn’t need to forgive you.” Tony licks his lips. “We’re both at fault here, Rogers.” 

Rogers’ eyes scan his. “We have to win the next fight.”

Tony forces himself to smile. “We’ll do that together.” 

Rogers nods, smiling with pursed lips. “I’ll… I’ll go grab Rhodes. Thank you, Tony.”

Tony nods back, watching him retreat. 

-

MAY

She’s called away from Carol, a magic glowing woman who can _fly_ , by Captain America.

Parents always say their kids change their lives, May never thought it would be like this, though.

Captain America, who asks her to call him Steve, leads May down a few hallways; into a huge wing of the castle with people lying on gurneys and nurses in different colored scrubs milling about. 

She’s instantly worried, fingering the web shooters on her wrists as a nurse in dark red scrubs -parts are shiny with blood- pushes past them with a pint held in hand. 

Steve - _she’s calling Captain America Steve_ \- opens a door to a privet hospital room, The Princess, who she recognizes from the news and from their very brief meeting, stands at the edge of a bed in a crisp white and grey room. Colonel James Rhodes stands beside her, arms crossed over his chest.

Panic widens her eyes until she schools her face nurteral. 

_You’ve seen a man with nails in his scull. You’ve seen a woman with a jagged bone broken through the skin of her arm. You’ve scrubbed in on brain surgery. You worked in the god damn ER for seven years. You can handle this._

But none of those times was it--

_That’s not Peter._

At first glance -a passing one- he shockingly looks like Peter. They have similar eyes. 

“Stark?” May asks, scanning the room once more, confident she wouldn’t have missed Peter the first time, but doesn’t see harm in double checking. “What happened? Where’s Peter?”

One of Tony’s eyes is orange, now that she looks closer, and cracks of orange climb up his jaw. 

She sees the pressed eyebrows, the small sympathetic frown, the licked lips of something hard to say--

“No.” She says before he can. Happy’s _‘He’s pretty ok’_ plays in the back of her head.

“I’m sorry.”

May feels her eyes sting. “Where is he?” 

_She sees the police officer at her door, an arm wrapped around a blood covered, sobbing, shaking Peter. “Mrs. Parker,” he had said, “I regret to inform you that there’s been an incident--”_

Not again.

“He’s not- they’re not- the dusting wasn’t death.” Tony says, quickly. “They’re just… away.”

“If you tell me he’s at a farm upstate…” May tries, a watery smile pulls up her lips. She want's to fight him, maybe hit someone... but if he's gone, then what's the point?

“He’s actually right there.” Tony points, just past her. “You just can’t see ‘im.”

She scans the area beside her. “Tony…?”

“He’s not lying.” James Rhodes- Colonel Rhodes-- _Rhodes_ says. “He can see dead people.”

“Peter already made that joke.” Tony glares, “don’t steal his material.”

“In my defence, I can’t hear him.” Rhodes has an eyebrows raised, almost playfully.

“Peter does not forgive you.” Tony glares- “ok, that’s a lie, he’s just staring at you like you hung the moon. And the stars. And created the solar system.”

May whipps her head to him, “you _can_ see him!”

“ _That_ convinced you?” Tony’s eyebrows raise to his hairline. “All I did was say the kid’s mooning over War Machine-- Peter looks like a tomato, by the way.” 

“Oh god.” May drops her face to her hands, then lifts it and scans the area next to her. “Peter? You’re grounded for going to space without permission.”

Tony laughs, and everything feels less weighing than it probably should. 

-

PETER

“Shuri can figure out a way.” King T’challa says, “your plan to trace the stones is a good first step.”

Strange nods in agreement, folding his legs and hovering above the ground, “but how?”

“We can trace power surges.” Peter shrugs, “can’t be that hard to trace _magic_ power surges.”

Strange nods again, “Stark? What do you think?”

Tony turns away from May. “That its a good idea. I’ll talk to Princess Shuri. We should hit sooner rather than later, before he has a chance to do more damage.”

Strange makes a humming noise in agreement. 

May makes a face.

“They think we could find a way to trace the energies the stones give off. We can use that to find Thanos.”

“And the stones are the things… Thanos… was after?” May asks slowly. When Tony nods she sighs out, rubbing the bridge of her nose. 

Tony prods at the sleeves May’s coat. He smiles when he sees the sleek sliver of web shooters. Peter leans over to get a better look.

“She used it!” Peter cheers, careful not to let his hand leave Dr. Strange’s knee but throwing one fist up in triumph. “I told you she would.”

Tony smiles. “I stand corrected.” He then looks up to a confused, but smiling May and clarifies; “I told Peter you would never use Aunt Webs, but I guess I was wrong.” He shrugs.

“Oh my god, May, record that--”

“You know what, Parker?” Tony glares over at him. 

“What did I say about bickering.” Strange glares, no lift to his words. 

“Sorry.” Peter says sheepishly. Tony gawfs and rolls his eyes. 

“I thought you guys might need help.” May says, looking apprehensive at the one sided conversation but shrugging. “I know it’s… not practical. But I’ll help, in any way I can.” 

Tony’s lip lifts. “Good.” He picks up his phone. “Hey, Fri, send over Webs, mark six.”

“On it, Boss. Requesting permission from Princess Shuri now.”

Tony winks at May’s pressed brows. Peter has his jaw open. “You made my Aunt a suit.”

“Yup.” Tony pops the ‘p’. “Alright. Help me up. I’ve gotta get to a lab.”

-

BUCKY

It makes sense, now that it’s been explained to them. And after the initial shock and “ _oh my god he can’t see me_ ”’s it just became kinda boring.

So here’s the deal, they can touch things, but not people, they can’t “affect” the environment around them; so opening doors? Nope, sorry; and they can’t even be seen by the people who didn’t get affected. 

So fuck him. You know? Thanks world. Yet again. James Buchanan Barnes? Thoroughly and completely fucked. And not in the fun way, either.

And on top of it all- the kid.

There is a _child_. Right there. Next to a tall green eyed man in robes. 

He’s lean, and has that messy hair, and those big, innocent eyes. And they might not be blue, but god, Bucky has seen those eyes before; in alleyways and dwarfed by swelling and black and blue.

Sam sees him lock eyes on the child, standing quite a few feet away, and rolls his eyes.

Everyone got used to his, as Natasha so kindly called it, _“Mother Henning”_ soon after he was brought out of cryo and deprogrammed. Everyone but Sam, who fights him too much to allow him to mother hen. 

Not that Bucky didn’t try, in the beginning. Now it’s all about being subtle. 

Steve always liked physical displays of affection and direct comments or concerns. Sam is the _opposite_. It’s frustrating. Bucky has to be sneaky with how much he cares; hiding “ _take care of yourself_ ”’s in “go the fuk to sleep, it’s 3AM”’s.

But, major frustration with his personal life aside, there is this child dressed in a super hero suit, standing too close to the man who has the same vibe as…

The Soldier whispers: _“Kamar-taj, Ancient One.”_

He doesn’t want to know why _he_ knows that. Shuri said sometimes it’s ok to listen to _him_ , but Bucky tries to ignore _him_. With a passion.

He shakes his head. Breaking his stare at the boy in metal red, gold, and blue. Something about the suit is familiar. 

Sam knocks shoulders with him and gives him the raised brows that asks _“you ok?”_ without actually expressing concern.

Bucky knocks his shoulder back, trying to scan the man beside the kid for weapons. 

Sam knocks him again, harder this time, then starts walking towards the room’s exit. Bucky follows.

Once outside the doorway, heald open by some type of AI, Sam yanks him around a corner.

“They have a plan.” Sam says, his face serious. Jaw clenched. “To track the stones.”

“Right.” Bucky says, a nod. His hair falls in his face. He pushes it away. “How do we fit in?”

“We talk to the dude with the robes.” Sam says, “because he said he has a way to talk to Stark, so then we can figure out how to help from this end.”

Truthfully, Bucky wasn’t listening. He was too busy wondering who that kid was. He didn’t look like the man he was next to, so that _probably_ wasn’t his dad… so why the hell is he here?

“Barnes- Jesus, you gonna go all _‘sir’yes’ir’_? Because I’d like a warning.”

Despite his mocking tone, genuine worry shows in his eyes. His hands don’t move for the gun at his hip but Bucky can see him mentally complying his deprograming words.

“No. No. _He’s_ under.” Bucky says, firmly. Pressing his lips together and turning back over his shoulder. “We should talk to that guy. Like you said. He can ask Nat and Steve what we can do. There’s gotta be a way to help.”

Sam spins him around again, scans his face with squinted eyes, and seems to be satisfied with whatever he finds. He pushes past Bucky and doesn’t wait for confirmation that he’s following.  
But he follows.

-

Sam leads them to the dude with the red cape, and introduces them as “Roger’s Right Hands”. His words. Not Bucky’s. 

The man says he had already known, which Bucky doesn’t want to question, and gives Bucky an extra long look. 

“I’ll communicate through Stark for you,” he says, “and we’ll be sure to let you know about any places the Princess could use a helping dusted hand.”

Bucky nods, speaking before Sam can, “thank you.”

He nods. The Kid nods his head towards the held open door -the emergency stairs, because it became quickly apparent that they could not use the elevators- and The Man starts walking. 

Sam and Bucky share a look before they follow.

-

CAROL

She’s sitting in The Kings Quarters, the chair is a cooshy, modern thing. The back is slim and uncomfortable, so she leans forward with her forearms balanced on her spread knees. 

It’s a man in a generic black t-shirt with a fully orange eye she sees first. She tenses, as does he, when they see each other. 

They keep tensed, neither moving, until May pushes past him and grins at her. 

“Carol, Stark. Stark, Carol.” May gestures to each respectively. “Stark is Iron Man and Carol has glow-ey powers.”

“I absorbed a photon explosion.” Carol corrects, then purses her lips into a thinking frown, “but you’re pretty close.”

May’s grin widens.

“I’ve heard of Iron Man before, you’re an Earth Defender, right? An Avenger?” Carol says, looking for clarification. She raises her eyebrows and crosses her arms over her chest. 

“That’s me.” He says, leaning on his crutch. 

“You know there’s an entire planet a few galaxies over that worships you?”

Stark blinks. “We’re coming back to that, at some point.” 

Carol nods her head from side to side. “Fair.” 

The Princess, Shuri, she said her name was, comes out from the elevator. “Hate to interrupt, but we have some energy tracking devices to build.” She’s cleaned off her smudged makeup, and has removed her gauntlets. 

“Right.” Stark nods. “Aliens that worship me…” He mutters under his breath as he follows Shuri through a door leading off of the sitting room. “Peter, Strange, c’mon.” He says, nodding to noone in particular. 

May huffs as she sits on the bench, then rolls her back and shuffles around. Trying to get comfortable. 

“Do we have a plan yet?” Carol asks, sitting down carefully across from May.

May looks up, pushing her long hair behind her glasses. “I’m not really the person to ask. Not so much on the team as I am a parental guardian of one of the members.” She shrugs. “But they’re working on building a thing to track the… Infinity Stones? The things that Thanos used to take everyone out.” 

Carol nods. “Who leads the team?”

May widens her eyes and blows air out her lips, “complicated question. They had a falling out like three years ago, maybe less. Captain America leads half the team and Stark leads the other half. They’re patching things up for now.”

Carol’s eyebrows meet on her forehead, pressing an angry line above the bridge of her nose. “Sounds complicated.”

May humms. “It’s really not. They’re just... _men_.”

Carol lets out a surprised snort, and decides she likes May more than she should, for knowing her seven hours. 

-

Captain America, her childhood hero, stands in front of her with his arms crossed. 

You wouldn’t recognize him from the propaganda and recruitment posters, his hair is too long, his beard too thick, and the lines of his face you can see are too weathered. 

She says nothing, clenching her jaw and raising an eyebrow and chin, widening her stance and letting waves of energy dance around one of her fists. 

His mouth twists up in what she reads as approval, and she lets her light fade and stance relax. 

He doesn’t, and neither does the bleached blond woman to his left. 

“Stark’s working on the device.” Carol says. “As is The Princess.”

“Has the situation been explained to you?” Captain America- is he still Captain America? May had explained he was dishonorable discharged after his terrorism- asks, arms still crossed. Body still tense. 

“Fully.” She says shortly. 

“Good.” He nods. “We’ll need all the help we can get.”

“I know.” She says, still blank faced. “You’ll win this time.”

“How can you be so sure?” There’s a man with messy curls and deep bags under his wide eyes. He stands beside a blonde man in silver and black armor who towers him in height, a raccoon is perched on his shoulder, holding a size appropriate gun. 

“Because this time you’ll have me.” She cocks an eyebrow. The man blinks.

“Look, Lady, we’re all really powerful-”

Carol fires a photon blast at the wall beside his head. It shatters a decorative vase. The larger man tugs the curly haired guy out of the way of the broken vase and burned wall.

“Ok. Yeah. Point proven.” He blinks, rapidly. “I’m Bruce Banner.”

“Carol Danvers.” She introduces, smugly. “Captain Mar-vel.”

“You mean Marvel?” The Blonde Woman asks, “Fury mentioned a Marvel.”

“Of course he did.” Carol mumbles under her breath.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Forgiveness, can you immmmaaaaginnnneee
> 
> New perspectives! Not just Tony and Peter! I'm kinda trying,,,
> 
> Next chapter: a real plan.
> 
> -
> 
> Whoops it's four days late
> 
> Updating schedule? Who is she? I don't know her.
> 
> Tumblr is begaystopcrime
> 
> I'll update soon. 
> 
> -
> 
> Leave a comment and Kudos, maybe?


	3. i don't like to lie, stark

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “How’s your wound?” Thanos asks instead of answering. “Humans heal slowly. I almost didn’t expect you to survive. I’m glad you did.”
> 
> “Shut up, Asshole.” Tony’s jaw is tight in May's display. “I’m not gonna ask again.”
> 
> Thanos chuckles again, opening his eyes. “But you will. Again. And again. Until you get the ending you want.”
> 
> “He doesn’t have them.” May speculates, slowly. Her eyes widening slowly. 
> 
> The small, satisfied smile on Thanos’s face grows. “You’re new.”
> 
> “She’s right.” Tony breathes out. His face hardens and his eyes widen. “Tell me she’s wrong.”

TONY

Shuri laughs, full bodied, as Tony gapes at her hologram of the device. 

“How long did this take you?” He asks, spinning it with his finger. Peter and Strange are beside him, both equally as amazed as himself. 

“I started just after you mentioned it. You see anything wrong with it at first glance?” 

Tony blinks, maybe three times, before he dares to open his mouth and talk. “I don’t think I’d find anything wrong with it if I had several days to look at it.

She grins, taking back the little slab of metal the hologram is projected from. “Good, that means it’s alright.”

“When everything is over, I have someone to introduce you to.” Tony says, looking over at Peter despite talking to Shuri. “Remind me of that.”

“Sure.” She shrugs. “It’ll take… thirty minutes for the parts to be printed, then an hour or so to assemble them.”

“Your tech is fast.” His eyebrows are raised, “you think you could teach me a few things?”

She looks up, smiling. “I’ll teach you everything. For a price.”

“Price?” Tony squints his eyes.

“Take me to Coachella.”

Tony laughs, startled. “You got yourself a deal, Princess.”

-

The device takes exactly as long as Shuri predicted, Peter expresses his admiration of her technology in a never ending string of babbling words. 

By the time they’ve finished Strange has nearly popped a blood vessel from Peter’s ramblings, and Tony’s smiling wide with a welding helmet perched up on his head form when a more careful detail needed welding. 

Shuri has the device held in hand. It’s a tablet that connects to Wakandan and Stark (his newest, EDITH) satellites. They had to create a stronger device to track energy surges similar to the one off Earth, but their satellites are long range enough.

“They’re scanning.” Shuri says, tapping the hologram that shoots up from the tablet. “Your satellite has a surprising range for American technology.”   
He frowns in thought, then nods his head to the left, “I’ll take that.” 

Peter laughs, leaning over to get a better look at the hologram, his arm reached behind him to keep contact with Strange, who sits cross legged in the air above a workbench. 

Shuri’s face smooths out as the device beeps, she squints, then blinks, looking up at him. “There’s an energy signature similar to the one from the fight a few galaxies over. If this is them -and it should be- they were just used.”

“How long ago?” Tony asks, shifting on his high tech, anti-gravity crutch (takes some weight off, but he’s having trouble adjusting to it). Was he wrong to assume he’d have more time? What if he can’t fight? 

Concern is apparent on her face, Peter’s glee is fading fast.

“An hour ago.” Her jaw is clenched, tight. “Where’s my brother?”

Tony looks over at Strange.

“He was helping the dusted adjust, last I saw him. Rogers friends, Barnes and Wilson, were helping him.” 

“He’s with your people.”

“Can you ask someone to go tell him our plan?” Shuri is walking, her boots hit the reflective floor with a heavy echo.

“What is our plan, exactly?” Tony shouts after her. 

“To kill Thanos.” Shuri says back over her shoulder.

And he’s alone with the ghosts.

-

Strange and Peter disappear to find T’challa. 

Tony starts for The King’s Quarters, going through a Willy Wonka all-ways elevator that opens up a few floors over to a doorway off of the room he last saw May. 

May looks up when he comes in. The whole (ex)team is there, surrounding her. “Is Peter with you?”

“He and The Wizard went to find King T’challa.” Tony says, falling heavy on an open space of bench and pressing a hand to his stab wound. 

“You alright?” May asks. “You really shouldn’t be putting so much strain on the stiches-”

“Shuri cleared me, May.” Tony says, waving her off. “I’m fine.”

“How’s the… device thing?” May asks, after a moment of half awkward silence has passed. 

“We finished it.” He says, expecting some impressed looks. Noone seems surprised. He sighs. “We found a similar energy signature to the stones. I sent Strange to tell the King about it. Shuri left, probably to do something helpful.”

“When do we leave?” Rogers -Steve? What is he to him now?- asks. Carol doesn’t spare him a glance before answering.

“Now.”

“I agree with The Glow Stick.” Tony says, pointing at Carl, who squints at him.

“Tony- You’re not going to space. You’re recovering from a stab wound.” May’s eyebrows press together. “Colonel Rhodes, back me up.”

Rhodey stands, hands up in a surender motion. “Tony, I’m with her.”

“No- I’m fine. Really. Seriously. The suit will take the pressure off of my abdomen. I have a suit being sent over with May’s-”

“What?” May’s eyes widen, “I thought... I just…” She triple tapps her web-shooters, her gauntlets shoot up her hands and down her arms. 

“I made a whole suit. Sue me, I worry for your safety-”

“Alright. I’m going. You stay.”

“May, no offence, not a fair trade.”

She looks offended for a second, then cocks her eyebrow and nods. “Maybe, but as a nurse I can’t let you go to space.”

“Pep would agree, Tones.” Rhodey says.

“I’m going.” Tony insists.

“Don’t make me get Peter.” May glares. 

Tony rolls his eyes. “May, I’m coming. I’ll hang back a bit, if it matters that much to you.” He means the last part to be sarcastic, but her face stays firm. 

“I’m holding you to that.” She insists -and yeah, that's why Peter’s scared to miss curfew. Alright. 

Tony shakes his head. 

Shuri enters the room in her own Black Panther Suit. 

That’s the only way Tony can describe it. It’s a little more fitted, and the left hand is dwarfed in one of her panther gauntlets, modified to match the color scheme of the suit; black and purple; and now that she’s closer he can see similar dots to her make up from earlier lining the curves of her suit. “Are we leaving?” She asks, her voice thick with exasperation. 

Strange floats into his vision, with him comes a pang of electricity through the left side of Tony’s head. “The King has been informed.”

Tony nods. “Thanks, Strange.”

He scans Tony’s face, his jaw tightens. “You’re going, aren’t you.”

“You thought I wouldn’t?”

Strange’s eyes fall closed. “I thought maybe you’d give a shit about your own life.” And he fades from view, leaving Tony with a dull ringing in his ears. 

“Strange told King T’challa about finding Thanos. He didn’t say he rejected the mission, so-”

“So that’s as good as a _‘yes, go ahead’_.” Shuri claps her hands. “Any objections? No. Good.”

Tony grins. “I like your style.” His phone chirps, a notification from Friday is on screen. “May, our suits just landed.” 

May takes a deep breath, “Alright.”

Carol knocks shoulders with May, raises her eyebrows, and smiles.

-

MAY

The suit is a royal blue, it matches up with her gauntlets. It’s metal, and not form fitting like Peter’s. It’s bulkier, more with weapons and less with swing-mobility. 

The red on the sides mimiks the blue on Peter’s, and it’s made completely of a flexible, molded metal. 

The front has a spider emblem, it’s large, and takes up a lot of space; a shining silver. All and all it’s simple. 

She turns to Tony, decked out in an older Iron Man suit, not as fitted as the one she watched on the news, and shakes her head. 

“You have a weird way’a showing you care, Stark.”

-

Wakanda has a spaceship. Which really shouldn’t surprise her, but it does. 

Carol knocks her shoulder again. “Lookin’ good, for someone not on the team.” She nods back behind her shoulder. “And he seems to agree.”

May looks over her shoulder to see a wide-eyed Happy. 

She raises her eyebrow, waves, then starts giggling. Carol joins in. 

“What are we laughing about?” Tony asks. “Is it me? It’s me, isn’t it.”

“Not everything is about you.” May glares, glad he takes it as a joke and laughs. “Is Peter coming?”

“He wanted to.” Tony says, “but I told him to hang back and help with taking names of dusted and adjustments for dusted families.” 

“Busy work?” 

“Busy work.” Tony confirms. 

“Stark!” Black Widow calls from the loading dock of a spaceship. “We’re all set.” She’s gone as soon as she came. 

“That’s our cue-”

“I’m coming.” There’s a woman, a _blue_ woman, walking towards them with a lowered chin and determination rolling off her in waves. Tony raises no complaints, and follows her with a shrug to May and Carol, up the ramp and into the ship.

May walks in after him, Carol follows her, the ramp lifting after them.

So, May Parker sits, in a custom made Iron Man suit, beside Tony Stark on a spaceship. 

Ben would shit his pants. 

Tony raises his eyebrows as Carol takes her seat beside May and doesn’t bother to buckle her harness. No one is, which makes May cautious to clip hers, but she does anyway, and Tony follows suit— probably to sooth her nerves. 

She glares at Carol until her’s is clipped too (with a sigh, but she clips it nonetheless), and Rhodes follows suit with a smile. 

“We need a mom on the team, if it makes Tony take care of himself.” 

Tony seems to agree. 

“Everyone ready?” Shuri yells back to the separated team; May, Carol, Tony, Rhodes, Thor, Bruce Banner and The Blue Woman on one side; and Steve, and The Black Widow with a seat of space between themselves and Tony’s friends. 

“You good, Strange?” Tony asks to the empty seat beside him. He gets no answer May can hear, but thumbs up to Shuri anyway. 

The ship is set up with seats lining the walls and a cockpit separated from the rest of the hull by a forward facing seat with surrounded by a panel of controls.

“You shouldn’t feel much of a change with g-force, our ships are equipped with a counter.” Shuri then looks back over her shoulder. “How many of you have been to space?”

May watches Tony, Carol, Thor, Banner, The Raccoon (he’s a _space_ raccoon?) and The Blue Woman raise their hands. 

Shuri nods her head to the left. “Good ratio. The rest of you, just hold on. And buckle your seatbelts; you don’t look cool.”

Steve and The Black Widow look down at their harnesses and then at each other, clipping it without complaint. 

Tony has a self satisfied smile on his face, and May winks. 

-

There’s no defence. 

She doesn’t know what she expected, but it wasn’t a confused Princess Shuri turning around in her seat to say _“I scanned, there’s no defense systems. There's only one humanoid life form detected.”_

They’ve landed now, near the heat signature Shuri identified. 

Tony teaches May to drop her helmet, and she feels the nanobots crawl up the back of her head and zap down the front of her face. It’s not constricting like she thought. The eyes are wide and she’s generally comfortable. 

“Hello, Aunt May.” Comes a voice from the suit. It’s Karen. “Mayday suit protocol has been activated. I’ll take over control and execute the best and safest I can if you ask.” 

“Ah- thanks, Karen.”

“Everything works?” Tony asks, “you like the name? I never thought you’d actually need the suit, so I didn’t bother coming up with anything too clever. It was that or Iron May-dien--“

“Mayday. Very clever.”

“I try.” He shrugs, his own helmet drops as the rest of the team forges ahead. “May and I’ll take air and scope out. Carol lead the pack with Thor. Bruce, no offense, but try the middle of the group. Nat, silent but deadly spy mode.”

No one complains at the orders, which surprises her. 

“Would you like me to follow Mr. Stark?” Karen asks.

“Ah… just keep me steady.” May says, nervous as she lifts from the ground, the repulsors under her boots and in her hands whine. She’s floating unsteady for a few moments before her weight evens out.

She’s flying.

“Alright.” Tony keeps slow beside her. “Up up and away.”

And with that they’re flying above the team, making their own way through the trees. 

Karen sees the alien first, and identifies it as the man who Peter fought on another planet. 

He’s sitting with his feet hanging over the edge of a small stone bridge. His eyes are shut, and his face serene in the small zoomed in box Karen pulls up. 

He’s wearing an off white shirt and what looks to be khaki cargo shorts. Sandals are piled beside him. 

Tony looks over at her, his helmet expressionless until Karen pulls up another small box with his suit cam in it.

“He has to know we’re here.” He says, “be prepared.”

May nods, though she doesn’t really know how she’d react given a violent confrontation. There really should have been a tutorial on how to work this thing. 

They float in the air above the large, purple man she now knows as Thanos. He says nothing, and makes no movement, his head still angled up towards the warmth of the sun. 

Tony lowers to thunk down behind him, May lands beside him. She sees Carol and Thor break through the trees. 

The river -it looks like a river, but the water is green and bubbling- babbles and crackles, and the air feels thick when she moves her hand. 

“Welcome.” Thanos says, his voice a deep rumble. “I wasn’t expecting you yet.”

“Surprise.” Tony deadpans. May almost snorts. 

Thanos chuckles low in his chest. He doesn’t open his eyes. 

“I’m gonna cut to the chase.” Tony says, “where are the stones?”

The Avengers are closer now. Stopped beside the waters edge. Energy crackles on Thor and circles Carols fists. 

“How’s your wound?” Thanos asks instead of answering. “Humans heal slowly. I almost didn’t expect you to survive. I’m glad you did.”

“Shut up, Asshole.” Tony’s jaw is tight in her display. “I’m not gonna ask again.”

Thanos chuckles again, opening his eyes. “But you will. Again. And again. Until you get the ending you want.”

“He doesn’t have them.” May speculates, slowly. Her eyes widening slowly.

The small, satisfied smile on Thanos’s face grows. “You’re new.”

“She’s right.” Tony breathes out. His face hardens and his eyes widen. “Tell me she’s wrong.”

“I don’t like to lie, Stark.”

-

P?O??M? M?DN?GHT

_I have them._

_Don’t worry._

-

NEBULA

Her father rarely lies. 

He always said it pained him to lie.

-

TONY

He’s gonna fucking deck this man in the face.

“He’s lying.” Stephen says, only for his ears. “There’s no way he gave up the stones.”

_Peter. Peter. Peter- Peter will live long enough to have wrinkles. Damn him, Peter will live._

“What did you do to them?”

Thanos’s eyes catch on something in the distance, his jaw clenches, and his eyes squint shut; like what he’s about to say physically hurts him. “I destroyed them.”

Strange’s jaw falls open. “He’s lying. I feel the time stone.”

“You’re lying.” Tony’s helmet falls, crawling back into his chest piece. 

Thanos looks back at him. His lip corners downturning. “Only a little.” 

“Well then tell the fucking truth.” Tony snaps, Strange places a non-corporal hand on his metal clad shoulder. 

“Most of them are gone.” Thanos explains. “And I cannot let you get the remaining.”

Tony feels hope drain from him. His repulsor whines as he holds it up. May’s hand twitches to stop him, but instead she raises it forward like his. The noises line up. 

“Tell us where they are.” Tony warns.

“You’ll kill me either way.”

“I can find them.” Strange says. “We don’t need him.”

—And Tony blows a hole through Thanos’s head, sending him splashing forward into the water.

“We don’t need him.” Tony explains to the faces gawking at him, all but one; Steve, who's smothering a smile with an amused frown.

-

PROX?M? MIDN?GHT

Her father falls into the water and she muffles the noise of despair that rips from her throat with the reality stone adorning her staff, bending the air around her to hide the sound waves. 

He was in the process of giving them to her, his most trusted, to continue his work. Keeping the universe safe with her new abilities. 

They were interrupted by these small minded… humans. _Humans._ The only resisting species. The others took it, are taking it, and are healing. 

\--Humans, those grotesque, annoying little ants called creatures like to lie to themselves, that they have control, that they mean something.

If only they could just accept that this plan, this was a blessing. Her father blessed them. And they shot a laser through his skull.

She’ll kill them for that, and maybe their planet.

One less planet too look after doesn’t sound all that bad.

A cloud of blue surrounds her, the silhouette of the two shining figures shooting a beam through her father's head burned behind her eyelids. 

-

STRANGE

Tony and Ms. Parker lead the pack up the mountain. Captain Marvel, as she calls herself, looks somewhat disappointed at the lack of a fight. 

Steve Rogers follows behind her, Tony appears to be ignoring him as firmly as his can through this all. 

They climb up to a cave built within the mountain, it’s manmade, probably. Stephen feels the time stone the second he steps in the room. 

“That rock is false.” He says, nodding to the left. “You could probably pry it out--”

Tony shoots a repulsor beam at it without looking. 

“Or you could do that.” He mutters, annoyed, as Tony walks towards the hole blown in the rock. 

It’s a metal box, Tony pries off the door, and inside is the gauntlet. 

Stephen leans over Tony’s shoulder to look at the gauntlet.

“No.” He says, “No...”

“There were more.” Tony says, reaching for the metal. Stephen tries to stop him from grabbing it, Tony stalls his hand when he notices. “Strange?”

“Be careful, Tony.” Stephen mutters, “the time and power stones are the only ones that remain. Maybe he…”

“Actually did it?” Tony finishes, slowly picking up the gauntlet in his metal-covered hands. Mrs. Parker leans close, her body clips through Stephen. He steps back s she can lean next to Tony.

“What’s wrong?” She asks, her suit helmet is still up, though Stephen assumes she could remove it if she’d like. The others are breathing fine. 

“Some of the stones are gone.” Tony says to the group. “When I fought him he had four, the time stone made five. Mind Stone made six. There are two here. Strange called them time and power.”

“So he was telling the truth?” Steve asks. “He did destroy some of the stones?” 

“Strange?” Tony asks, looking over at Stephen. Stephen can’t tell his facial expression because of the mask, but his voice sounds edging on desperate. 

“I don’t think it’s possible.” Stephen says. “And if it isn’t, it raises the question, where are they?”

Tony translates.

“Well, we can’t ask because _someone_ killed him.” Nat says. She doesn’t mean it to be rude, she’s just annoyed. 

“At least I went for the head.” Tony snaps. “Strange. Could we find the remaining stones with these two?”

“If you track the energies...” Stephen says, “maybe.”

“Shuri, can you open up the tracker and scan for concentrated energies close to the ones matching these stones?”

Shuri nods, pushing past the crowd. There's a few moments of her tapping on her screen. "It takes a minute." She mutters. Then, “Stark. There are no oth’a energies.” She looks up, “there was, the signatures linger… but…”

Tony steps back, his metal boot hitting a church of blown up rock. He stumbles. “No...”

“So he did it?” Carol asks, glancing between Tony and May. “He actually destroyed the strongest items in the universe?”

Strange is taken aback. “Tony…”

Tony turns to him. “There’s no way-“

“That’s probably why he kept the time stone. So he could bring them back if he had to.” Strange says. “And the Power Stone to strengthen Time.”

“So we could bring them back?” Tony asks, his voice edges on desperation. “The stones, we could-“

“No.” Strange says. “We couldn’t.”

“Why?” Tony asks, the others look annoyed at the one way conversation. “Why not?”

“We don’t know where he destroyed them,” Strange starts, speaking calmly. “And turning back all of time would worsen the radiation already thrown into the atmosphere… it’s too dangerous, Tony.”

Tony brings his hands up to rub at his temples. “Then what can we do, Strange?”

Stephen opens his mouth, then closes it. He thinks over his words before he speaks. “We come up with a plan that doesn’t involve turning back all of time.”

Tony nods. “Ok. Ok. Uh- Strange says that we need a plan that isn’t turning back time. Apparently the stones send some crazy damaging radiation through the air or something.”

“We’ll come up with something.” Colonel Rhodes says, his face plate slides up. “It’s alright, Tones.”

Tony swallows heavy.

Strange searches his mind for what their next course of action should be. “We need the remainder of The Stones to bring those of us stuck on this side of the barrier back into reality,”   
Strange starts, “using the time stone in small doses will do less damage than one big strike. I suggest we start there.”

Tony shifts. He rubs at the side of his eye with metal plated fingers and then gestures for Strange to continue. The group waits patiently.

“We should go back in time in small groups to retrieve the stones.” Strange finishes.

Tony repeats this to the group, locking eyes with May’s suit.

“I’ll do whatever it takes.” May says. 

“Whatever it takes.” Tony repeats.

“So that’s it? We’re just… going back in time? No further argument?” Shuri blinks, “because I have many questions.”

“I’m in.” Carol says, half over Shuri. 

“Fine, Whatever. Me too.” Shuri sighs.

“So am I.” Nat shrugs. “I’ll get Clint on board too.”

“I’ll help.” Steve speaks up. “Sam and Bucky will help however they can.”

Strange nods to Tony. The group all turns to the remaining three. Steve crosses his arms over his chest, Nat raises a neatly plucked brow.

Bruce steps up. “I can try and help, but the big guy and I still aren’t exactly on speaking terms.”

“If Bruce joins I too will lend my assistance.” Thor grins. “It seems as though the… band is together again?”

“It’s… never mind. Close enough.” Tony says, waving Thor off and rolling his eyes at Strange. “What about you, Nebula?” Tony asks, gentle.

She swallows, her eyes fall shut and her head bows. “I’ll do as much as I can to help your rebellion.”

Tony nods, looking around at his team. “Alright. Cool. Great. Now how do we get these stones?”

He addresses the last part to Strange, who’s been watching him the whole time. “You should keep it held in hand. Meet your suit on and keep your hand as far away from them as you can, just until we can put them in something easier to carry.”

"Be careful, Tony." Steve says, gently. Stephen has to physically contain an eyeroll. 

Tony nods, holding the edge of the gauntlet. “I’m on stone duty, let’s blow this popsicle stand.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoopsies, it's been a bit.
> 
> @ the person with the slug prof pic that commented, thanks a lot. I wasn't gonna continue this lol. I'll keep going I guess!
> 
> :)) kudos and comments, maybe?
> 
> (I'm so sorry for spelling mistakes, I've read this at least three times and I cannot force myself to again.)


	4. MIND

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Tony-” Strange warns- Peter just now sees...
> 
> Iron Man clangs down behind Tony.
> 
> Tony turns to the repulsor of a clunkier suit held in his face, Peter rushes forward with a hand outstretched.
> 
> Young Tony’s helmet falls. “What the fuck.”
> 
> “Jarvis.” Tony- Peter’s Tony… Mr. Stark says, “warn a guy.”
> 
> “My apologies, Sir.” Jarvis says. Peter doesn’t hear any remorse. 
> 
> “Who are you?” Young Tony says, Peter assumes he was tipped off about Mr. Stark’s location by this Jarvis AI. 
> 
> Mr. Stark holds his hands up, but seems to think better of it, lowering the hand with the stone, which is slowly being carried by nano bots up and over to the back of his gauntlet to his chest. 
> 
> “I thought I was supposed to be a genius?” Mr. Stark glares, looking over to Peter with a _‘this moron’_ look.

PROXIMA MIDNIGHT

A man in glittering silver armor approaches her, his eyes are dark, hooded with pitch-black lids.

“I’m getting the feeling,” he starts, “that you’re desperate.”

She allows herself a smirk, her eyes dance with something close to amusement. “I have an entire army and four of the six infinity stones. Why would I be desperate?”

He copies her grin, leaning down to her height. “Because they have the other two.”

“Don’t overestimate the power of one planet.” She hums, her voice rolls with a growl, “they are nothing compared to my army. My father crushed them with the flick of his fingers.”

“Your father crushed all with the flick of his fingers.” He corrects. “Including my people.”

“Your people won’t die of famine, now.” She fights back, glaring. Her staff slams into the ground. “Your people will prosper.”

“Our resources are-“

“Join me or die.” She says simply.

He swallows, his head falls as he sits on his throne.

“You call me desperate.” She says, standing, “but it is you who should be begging me. I will bring prosperity to your people, the Taran’s will only bring death and destruction.” She hisses. “Join me, or perish at the hands of those monsters who live to destroy my father’s namesake.”

“For my people.” He sighs out. “Very well.”

-

TONY

Strange watches him pace. May sits unknowingly beside The Wizard, her suit still on, only her helmet has fallen.

“Peter’ll be up soon.” Tony says, “Strange said that _T’Challa_ said that he’s just finishing up with Barnes and Wilson.” 

“Finishing up his busy work?” May says, stepping around the awkward phrasing. 

“Yeah, I guess.”

“I’m still a little…” May laughs, her gloved hands coming up to frame her face. “Is this even real? What the fuck _is_ my life, Stark?”

“It’s Tony.” Tony corrects, smiling. “I think we’re at the first name level.

May shakes her head. “Sure. Tony.” 

“Life only gets weirder from here. Ask Pepper or even Rhodey. Both of them went through this whole ‘what the fuck, superheroes are a thing and I know them’ mindset you’re going through.”

May sighs. “So, we need a place- or a time? I still don’t really get the stone thing.”

Tony shakes his head. “Join the club. Strange has yet to elaborate.”

“Maybe if you shut your mouth,” Strange glares, “I could interject.” 

“Wow, Strange, rude.”

May raises her eyebrows. “Wow, you really look insane when you do that.”

“I always look insane.” Tony scoffs. “Anyway, Strange, continue.”

Strange rolls his eyes, sighing down at his feet. “Let me bring Peter into your plane of sight so he can offer his thoughts.” He flickers from view, then appears with Peter’s hand held in his.

“Hi, Mr. Stark!”

“Hey, Kiddo.” Tony grins, “May, he’s standing next to you. No- to the right. Yup, that's about right.”

Peter smiles down at her. “Tell her I say hi.”

“He says hi.”

May smile up at him. “Hello, Pete. Like my suit?”

Peter seems to just now register that, he looks her up and down. “What the fuck.”

“Hey, Peter, language.” Tony glares. 

May raises an eyebrow. “You want me to come on the next step with you?” She asks him, “or you can put me to work here?”

“You can come time traveling if you _want_.” Tony says, “but… I don’t know the effects of it, and we need people here incase…”

May nods. “We can take it in turns. Some people can go for one, some others for the next.” 

She raises her arms. “How do I get outta this thing?”

“Double-tap the arc reactor,” Tony instructs, sitting back in a chair. 

“Can we get back on topic?” Strange asks as May’s suit retreats into an arch reactor, clamped over her sternum. He was going to make it into a necklace so she could wear it more inconspicuously, but he didn’t have time to perfect it.

She watches the light on her chest, the light blue in contrast to her striped button-up, then turns back to him. 

“Strange is gonna start talking, so it’ll be a minute.” Tony says, she shrugs, and he turns back to The Wizard, “go ahead.”

Strange sighs, sitting up so his arms rest on his knees. “I’d suggest we go after the stones individually as Mrs. Parker suggested. In alternating teams to account for the radiation of using the stones.” 

“Where should we base?” Tony asks, “if the radiation’s such a factor?”

“Titan?” Strange suggests, “it’s deserted, so maybe that would be best. I’d suggest some Avengers stay here, though. And Shuri should work on panic control.” 

Tony nods. “What one do we go for first? And how should we get them?”

“I think we should figure out which times would be best to go to for each, and which people would be best to collect them at that time.” Strange says, “you should host a team meeting.”

“I’ll help.” Peter says, “I can go grab the dusted Avengers…?”

“Not yet, Kid.” Tony says, then turns his gaze back to Strange, who Peter has a hand on the shoulder of. “Do you have any ideas for times to get the stones?”

“I know a man called ‘The Collector’ had the reality stone at a point in time.” Strange offers. 

“You know what time?”

“I can find out.” Strange answers cryptically.

Tony decides not to question further, “alright.”

“You should get to work on discussions. I would also suggest you contact all remaining Avengers.” Tony thinks of Pepper, then, and realizes he never even asked Happy about her, he just assumed she was working with SI on damage control. 

“Hey, May, can you talk to Rhodey for me?”

“What about?” She asks, standing to follow him. He’s walking towards the elevator now. 

“Just ask him about Pepper.” He says, “we’re still not… not on the _best_ terms. But I’m worried about her.”

When May doesn’t answer for a moment, he turns. 

“What?” He asks, a spike of fear shoots through his gut. 

“I called Pepper to ask about you and Peter,” she bounces her eyes between his. “She didn’t pick up.” 

He lets his eyes fall shut, and when he opens them he’s getting two looks of concern from May and Peter, Strange is looking down at the marble floor. 

“It’s ok.” He says, “she’s alright. She’s probably helping anyway.” He closes his eyes again, then shakes out his shoulders and presses the elevator button.

“I’m sorry, Tony.” She says, pressing her fingers to his shoulder. 

He turns back, half in the elevator. “No reason to be. Just have Rhodey… I dunno. Just talk to him. He’ll know what to do.”

“Ok.” She says, then scans his face. “Is Peter coming with you?”

He locks eyes with Peter, who nods. “I’ll come.”

“I am also coming.” Strange says. 

“Yeah, he’s gonna tag along,” Tony says to May. “You don’t mind, right?”

“No, no. Peter can have fun with his super-friends. I’m gonna go find Carol and Happy.” 

“Have fun with your super-friend… and Happy.” Tony adds on with a considering look, “don’t think he has a super title, yet.” He’s holding the elevator for Peter and Strange to climb on. 

“Will do.” May smiles with rolled eyes, her hands in her back pockets.

“And get some practice in with the suit! Play around with Carol, and have Karen page me later. If I have time I’ll come out and help you.” 

May’s smile widens. “I lied, Peter. I do like him.”

Peter laughs, something small, then bounces his eyes between Strange and Tony, who give him matching looks of concern. “I knew she’d come around.”

“You didn’t like me?!” Tony asks as the door closes, turning to Peter as it shuts, “she didn’t like me?”

“She hated you.” Strange confirms. He’s hiding a smile with a forced frown. 

“How do you even…” Tony looks over at him, then rolls his eyes. “Whatever. Of course you know. Tell me, Know It All, got a location on Rogers?”

Strange gives him A Look.

“Fine.” Tony raises his hands in surrender, “yeesh. Sorry I asked. Friday?”

“I’ll contact Princess Shuri.” Friday says. 

Peter is staring hard at the elevator, as he has since it closed. The numbers still tick down. 

“What’s wrong, Kid?”

“I still can’t believe you made my aunt a suit!” He blurts. “I thought we agreed on Protocol Webs!”

“I may have… added to Protocol Webs a bit.” Tony mutters. The floors get closer to zero as Peter gives him A Look to rival Strange’s.

“I don’t want her to get hurt, alright?” Tony says, looking over at Peter. “She’s your aunt. You love her, so I have to at least care for her a little.” He trails off as the sentence ends. “I make suits. That’s my thing.”

The door opens, and Natasha is in front of him. “Shuri said you were lookin’.”

“Yeah, for Rogers. I was trying to round up everyone.” Tony says. “Strange and Peter are here too, we’re talking about stone plans.”

“We figured. Shuri and Steve rounded everyone up.” She glances around them, she seems satisfied with whatever she was looking for. “He’s trying, Tony.” 

Tony looks down, “I’m giving him a chance.”

“I don’t know why.” Nat says, “what we did, what I did… I’m sorry.”

Tony shakes his head. “We all fucked up.”

She looks down again, dodging his eyes. Her eyelashes are long on her cheeks. “I really did.”

He places a hand on her arm, hesitantly. “You were forced to… I knew you’d pick Rogers, in the end.”

She throws her eyes back up to him. “Don’t-”

“Romanoff, he’s where your loyalties lie.” He’s smiling. “He’s the one who’s lies you tell.”

“You’re my friend too.” She says, harsh. “I apologize that I… I lost your trust. I _understand_ that I lost your trust.” A nurse pushes past them to get into the elevator, Tony and Nat sidestep. “But you were my friend, I was picking you. And then I saw him… Barnes means so much to him… If he was protecting anyone else I would have Widow Bit him… but Tony…”

“I understand.” Tony says, his eyes skirting to Strange desperately, he needs someone to get him out of this. “I get it.”

Nat seems to notice his unease. “They’re in that room, back there.” She nods back, crossing her arms over her chest. “Go. Tell them the plan.”

“Nat…” Tony closes his eyes and clenches his jaw to ground himself. When he opens them she’s looking at him. “Come with me, let's just… be friends again.” 

Nat scans his face before she nods. “Alright.” She turns on her heel, sweeping her emotions away with the movement and leading him to the room. 

The original team plus Shuri stares him in the face, Clint arrived at some point while they were away, because he too sits in the room, arms crossed. 

Nat falls beside Clint.

Thor and Bruce are as inseparable as they have been these past few hours. The raccoon is hanging off Thor’s shoulder again. They stand in the far corner of the room. 

Steve stands in the center of it all, leaning against the long conference room table. “How’s your side?” He asks.

Tony brings his hand to his abdomen. “May cleared me. Plus I’ve got a doctor following me around, ain’t that right, Wizard?” He looks over towards Strange, who rolls his eyes.

“That’s good.” Steve says, awkwardly. And wow, this is almost like an awkward divorce… this is worse than him and Pepper. His ex-girlfriend. Literally awful-

“Mr. Stark?” Peter chimes in, very gently. “Shouldn’t we ask if anyone has a time location on the stones?”

“Oh! Right, sorry. Ah, Spidey just got me back on track. Do any of you-”

The door slides open to Carol and May. “I’ve got the Tesseract.” 

The entire room looks at her, then Tony says, “excuse me?”

“I know where we can get the tesseract. That’s got the space one in it. I gave it to Fury, years ago. We can go back, take it from him, and leave.”

“He’ll just… give it to you?”

Carol shugs. “Yeah.”

“I’ll go with her.” May says, “seems like a beginner’s mission.”

Tony registers that, then says slowly; “well, no offense, Glow Stick… or May, but I want a uh… Avenger on this trip. We don’t know Marvel here very well… I can-” 

“I can go.” Steve cuts Tony off, “I’m ok with grunt work, I’ll go. Tony, you shouldn’t.”

“Why not?” Tony asks, met with matching looks from Steve, Strange, May, and Peter. 

“You have a stab wound.” May says, like it’s obvious. 

“I just killed _Thanos_ with a stab wound. This is _time travel_. You can’t bench me.” 

“You need to go on an easier one.” Steve says. 

“This _is_ the easier one.” 

“This is Fury.” Steve says with raised eyebrows. “You’re not exactly his favorite person.” 

“He doesn’t even know me yet!” Tony scoffs, frustrated. 

“We want him to get to know you.” Steve retorts. “So you’re staying for this one.” Tony looks around the room for someone to back him up. May just gives him a _‘he’s right’_ look.

“Fuck. Fine. I’ll get the mind stone.” Tony sighs, I just need to go back to 2015.” 

“Vision’s body.” Bruce pipes up. “You can remove it and get it back in easily.”

“My tech.” Tony shrugs. “I can be in and out. Plus, I’ve got the ghosties, no one can see ‘em.”

“I want someone else going with you.” Steve says, “someone who can act.”

Strange slams his whip into the floor and Tony crosses his arms over his chest with a growing smirk. 

“... That doesn’t…” 

“Nebula will come with me.” Tony says. “I saw her fight, she’s good. And trustworthy, right Strange?”

Strange hesitates a second like he’s thinking over if he should tell Tony, then nods. 

“Strange says yeah.” Tony raises his eyebrows at Steve. “That good enough for you?”

Steve nods, backing down. “Alright… and this won’t change anything?” He asks, “I still don’t really understand the whole… time… thing.”

“It won’t change anything.” Strange confirms. “Each time we change something from the past, another branch of time will be created, an alternate reality will be formed.”

“It won’t change anything.” Tony assures. “Strange says it will create another reality for that time.” He claps, “We need a group on the reality stone, Strange knows where to get it. Then we need one on the soul stone.” 

“I’ll take the group for reality.” Nat says, raising her hand.

“Banner, Rabbit, and I will take the soul stone.” Thor offers. 

“I will stay here with my people.” Shuri says. “And we have two people coming in, friends of  
Captain Rogers. They can go with a group.”

“Clint and I’ll take them.” Nat shrugs, “which friends?” She looks at Steve.

“You won’t want to take them if you know.”

“Oh no.” She mumbles. 

“Yup.”

“No.”

“Who?” Tony asks, “I feel very left out, here.”

“Oh, just Scott and Hope. She doesn’t like Scott.” Steve says, met with Tony’s confused squint.  
“No one likes Scott.” Nat defends, angling her face towards Tony.

“The Ant Man.” Strange offers when Tony doesn’t look any less confused.

“Who the fuck is Ant Man?” Tony responds, face screwed up.

-

SCOTT LANG

Hope looks over at him from her spot on the plane. “Are you ok?” She asks.

“I still don’t get it.” He says, “they didn’t even call me!”

“One: you’re not their friend, they probably forgot you existed until just now. Two: you were in the quantum realm. They couldn’t have reached you if they tried.” Hope rolls her eyes. 

“And the whole ash thing?! What the hell?” Scott, who has been trying and failing to reach  
Cassie and her mother for the better part of an hour, slams his phone on the leather cushion of the seat beside them. 

“I’m sure Captain America will explain.” Hope says, taking his phone from him. “They’re alright, Scott.”

“You don’t know that.” He mutters, reaching for his phone. 

“No, I don’t.” She says, holding it out of reach. “But if anyone can help, it’s The Avengers… probably.”

Scott sighs, his arm dropping. “What if…”

“Don’t think about it.” Hope glares. One of Stark’s disheveled employees runs by, towards the cockpit. 

“You think we can help?” Scott asks, looking over at her, unconcealed worry on his face. “Because I really don’t think I can help.”

“Captain America called you asking for help.” Hope says, annoyed. “They’re desperate.”

-

PETER

Tony’s wearing his Iron Man suit. Nebula stands close beside him.

Strange watches Tony take the time stone, carefully holding it in his gloved hand and clenching his fist around it. The team surrounds the two they can see.

Peter has a hand on Strange’s shoulder blade. Tony watches them. “What now, Strange?” 

“Peter, do you mind?” The Wizard asks. 

Peter takes his hand from Dr. Strange, and opens his eyes to find himself in his body, three feet away. A thickness like cotton fills his head and clogs up his ears, he tries to shake it away.

Strange steps towards Tony, whose eye is still fully orange- is it _permanent?_ He holds his hand over Tony’s, “it’s not too difficult to do.” Strange says, “you just have to be sure.”

Peter then watches the stone get covered in nanobots, stuck to the back of Tony’s suit’s hand. “Gotta fly to the location before we turn back time.” Tony says to the group. “You ready to go, Nebula?”

Nebula nods, already on the dock of the ship Shuri’s lending them. “Waiting on you, Sir.”  
“Alright. All set then-“

“Tony.” Steve says, “just be careful.”

Peter sees Tony fight back a smile. “Planning on it, Cap. C’mon Strange, Peter. Let's get on.”  
Peter sees Strange flicker from view, his body then blinking to life beside Peter. “Are you ready, Spider?” He asks, looking over fluidly. 

“Yeah. No. Yes.” Peter swallows, nodding his head to the side, then shaking out his hands as Tony climbs on the ship. “Space and time travel, in the span of two days. Pretty scary.”

“You’ll get used to it.” Strange says, slamming his whip into the floor before walking towards the ship. Peter scrambles to catch up.

-

The stone is glowing a neon green. They sit in the ship outside The Tower. “The date, Tony.” Strange reminds. “Just focus on the date.” He places his hand, however non-corporeal, over the back of Tony’s, and the area around them flashes green. 

When Peter opens his eyes his body is gone, as is Strange’s. They’re both able to be on their own. 

Nebula doesn’t react to them, meaning they’re still not _real_ again. And the ship is missing. 

Tony and Nebula run for cover to the side of the building. Peter runs with Tony out of habit, while Strange saunters over lazily, his cape flowing- Strange has kept it in the projection, this time. 

“Nebula?” Tony asks, holding out an arm. She fits along side him, he wraps an arm around her waist as she steps on an armored foot. “See you two up there. My labs on the same floor, Pete.” He has his voice a normal height- it _is_ New York, after all; no one will care enough to listen.

Tony’s helmet falls, and he’s shooting up into the sky.

“Where are the stairs?” Strange asks on a sigh. Peter leads them into the building and around the security desk, gesturing to a fire stair door. 

“Any way to magic up them?” Peter asks Strange weakly. Strange sighs, offering his hand ot Peter. Peter takes it, and makes a yelping noise when he’s yanked up off the floor and dropped at a landing. The door says _Floor 80_. 

“Few more levels.” Peter mutters, his heart beating fast as Strange lands beside him, his cape coming down elegantly. Strange reaches for him. “Ah! No, no. We can walk. Walking is cool.” Peter dashes towards the stairs. Strange follows him with a smirk. 

When they finally reach the floor Peter is careful about walking through the door into Tony’s lab, he sees Tony, wearing only a t-shirt and jeans; no suit. Bruce Banner... a longer haired, glasses wearing Bruce Banner stands opposite from him. Both of them are washed with a blue light. Banner gestures as he talks. 

“So you... want me… to help you… put Jarvis into this thing?” 

“No!” Young Tony responds with. Peter can see their Tony and Nebula in the window, they’re gone a moment later. “Of course not. I want to help _you_ ,” he points at Banner, “put Jarvis in this thing.” 

Banner moves his body and shakes his head in a manner that says _‘I can’t believe you’_ an _‘no, Tony.’_ at once. 

“We’re out of my field here.” Young Tony says, “you know bio-organics better than anyone-”  
There’s an alarm. Young Tony and Bruce Banner look up at the ceiling. 

“What could that be?” Banner asks.

Jarvis throws up a holo-screen. A blue woman runs past security on it, her swords gleaming in the fluorescent lighting. 

“Nebula.” Peter whispers. He sees Tony in the window with a thumbs up. 

“Will security deal with it?” Banner asks slowly. 

“I don’t know-”

“Sir,” Jarvis chimes in, “if I may interrupt, the intruder is asking for you. They don’t appear to be of this world.”

“Fuck.” Young Tony swears, “ready one of my suits. Try to isolate it to one part of the building.”

Young Tony is running off. Banner follows after a second of hesitation. 

Their Tony taps open a window. “Thanks, Jarvis.” He says. 

“Of course, Sir.” Jarvis answers. Tony’s helmet falls, he’s smiling smugly. “Can you open the box?”

The lid pieces slide to the side, they’re all standing by the feet of Vision’s red body. Tony moves up, until he’s standing by the head. 

Tony taps his arch reactor, his suit retreats into it. 

He picks up a screw driver. “Jarvis, tell past me I’m sorry.” He sticks the flat edge in the small crack between the stone and the vibranium, and wiggles. 

“Of course, Sir.” Jarvis repeats. 

Tony does that a few more times, “Friday, give me some power.” He grumbles, his suit starts to build up around his bicep and shoulder blade... and the stone pops up from it’s compartment. Tony’s suit gauntlet is still around his hand for the time stone, so he grabs it with that hand. The little connecters, hardly visible, hang on to the stone. “There goes a few million dollars.” He cringes. “Is Nebula alright, Jarvis?” Tony asks, showing off the stone to Strange. 

Peter grins at him, holding up a thumb. “Good job, Mr. Stark!”

“I am directing her from the building against Other Sir’s orders.”

“Thanks.” Tony says in relief, sparing a smile towards Peter. “Ok, you two. Head back down. I’ll get Nebula and we’ll blow this popsicle stand-”

“Tony-” Strange warns- Peter just now sees...

Iron Man clangs down behind Tony.

Tony turns to the repulsor of a clunkier suit held in his face, Peter rushes forward with a hand outstretched.

Young Tony’s helmet falls. “What the fuck.”

“Jarvis.” Tony- Peter’s Tony… Mr. Stark says, “warn a guy.”

“My apologies, Sir.” Jarvis says. Peter doesn’t hear any remorse. 

“Who are you?” Young Tony says, Peter assumes he was tipped off about Mr. Stark’s location by this Jarvis AI. 

Mr. Stark holds his hands up, but seems to think better of it, lowering the hand with the stone, which is slowly being carried by nano bots up and over to the back of his gauntlet to his chest. 

“I thought I was supposed to be a genius?” Mr. Stark glares, looking over to Peter with a _‘this moron’_ look. 

“Who.” Young Tony’s repulsor wines. “Are. You.”

“You, Dipshit.” Mr. Stark rolls his eyes. “Friday?”

“Yes, Boss.” Comes from Tony’s reactor. The nanobots crawl over his clothes to complete his suit, minus the helmet. 

“See?” Mr. Stark says, spinning his hands. “You.”

Young Tony raises his eyebrows. “Yeah, ok. Next thing you’ll tell me is that you’re from the future.” 

Mr. Stark gasps. “Ding ding ding! Peter, tell the man what he’s won!” 

“Oh please.” Strange sighs, creating a shield in front of Tony. “Let's go, before you kill youself.”

Mr. Stark sighs. “Fine, where’s Nebula?” 

“We’ll find her.” Strange says, he drops his shield, forming a portal with his hand. 

Young Tony has a look on his face of surprise and badly concealed fear. Peter steps through the portal, out onto the New York street they first reversed time to. Then Strange follows, then Mr. Stark.

Their Tony turns before the portal shuts, and says. “James Barnes is alive. Peter Parker lives in Queens. And SHIELD is HYDRA.” The portal shuts on a shocked man, repulsor half lowered.

_(“I don’t know!” A younger Tony Stark would say, pacing before his team later, “he looked like me, had really advanced tech, was talking to no one, and had an orange eye.”  
“What did he say?” Cap would ask, his hair still wet from a shower.  
“Jarvis, play the clip.” Tony would order, crossing his arms over his chest.)_

Nebula comes running from the lobby doors, Tony grabs her wrist and closes his eyes. Strange and Peter grab his arms. 

A flash of green and Peter is waking in his body.

-

TONY

He lands the jet outside the castle, by The Rouge’s Quinjet. The team meets them outside.  
“Did you…” Bruce starts, Tony holds out his hand, the two stones embedded into his glove shine in the setting sun. 

“Shit.” He mutters. “That’s…” 

“Three stones.” Tony says, “took us a few minutes.” 

“Few seconds, here.” Nat says, “beside the flight.”

“We could have everyone back before next week.” Shuri says, astonished and worried.  
May and Carol step forward in unison. “Peter?” May asks.

“He’s fine. Just there.” Tony nods his head to the left where Peter and Strange are astral projected. May lets out a small breath. 

“Who’s mission’s next?” Tony asks, then seems to think, “Friday, encapsulate and remove stones.”

The stones are covered in gold nanobots and dropped in his metal palm. 

Carol shugs, answering his earlier question. “May, Steve, and I can go.” 

“Coolio,” Tony responds, handing off the time stone with an approving nod from Strange, keeping the mind stone close to him. 

The world has shifted, and they’re the only ones who have the power to stop it. 

-

PROXIMA MIDNIGHT:

Her new army mingles with her father’s old as the Slave Colony produces more weapons. 

The King she bullied into joining the cause lies unconscious before her, she binds him there with ropes of the reality stone.

She lets a smile cross her face. 

“You.” She says, sharp. The servant she’s directed it to squeals. 

“Yes, your Majesty?”

“Who are your planet’s closest allies?”

“Uh… Sovereign and Jotunheim are close powers-”

“Good. Ready a ship with your best fighters.” She orders. “They will be joining us in the fight against Tera.”

**Author's Note:**

> I actually have a plot planned out for this. Be proud of me.
> 
> Don't correct my grammar. I suck at grammar. Let me and my excessive commas L I V E.
> 
> I'll update tomorrow. 
> 
> Chapters to come will be more plot heavy,,, promise.
> 
> My tumblr is begaystopcrime,,, come and check out my shitty jokes. I'll also post updates on this. 
> 
> Kudos and comments make me want to update,,, if you like it,,,, leave them??? :)


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